Monday, September 24, 2012

Three Billion Reasons to Be Excited!

One of my favorite things to do is have some coffee on a Sunday
morning and watch the CBS Sunday Morning show.Nearly every story is a feel-good piece and any others are fact-based
with limited negative vibe.It’s just a
good news way to start the day. Anyhow,
there was a brief piece this morning about how much money is being spent on the
current presidential political campaigns.Since we see an ad during nearly every commercial break, it should come
as no surprise that the amount spent is in the hundreds of millions of
dollars.That’s a lot of money!

Then it occurred to me.MD
Anderson Cancer Center is getting ready to spend three BILLION dollars
to take aim at cancer.That’s billion…with
a “B.”Now THAT’s a lot of money!They could pay for several presidential
campaigns!Thank God they’re spending it
against cancer!

As most of you know by now, MD Anderson has launched their
Moon Shots program which targets several cancers for annihilation…including
melanoma!The goals against melanoma
include those involved in research, clinical trials, and prevention.Since my personal mission is to spread
melanoma awareness, their latter goal has me very excited.MD Anderson’s website says this regarding
their goals toward prevention:

There is strong evidence
that exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) plays an important causal role in
melanoma. Despite the declaration of UVR as a carcinogen by the World Health
Organization in 2009, public health surveys have reported increasing prevalence
of both sun exposure and tanning bed use among adults in the U.S., and few, if
any, comprehensive preventative programs targeting children exist. Further,
although recent experiences in other countries demonstrate that improved
sun-safety practices and skin screening can reduce both melanoma morbidity and
mortality, few, if any, comprehensive screening efforts exist in the U.S.

This is such exciting news.Not only are the medical gurus of MD Anderson going to concentrate on
eradicating and curing this disease, their PR folks are going to concentrate on
educating this country and increasing awareness!

I join many fellow bloggers and sun-safe advocates in applauding
the MD Anderson Cancer Center and offering help in any way I can.

Disclaimer!

"Black is the New Pink" is a compilation of thoughts and links related to Melanoma Awareness and is not intended to serve as a medical advisor. If you seek such advise, please visit your doctor or dermatologist.